 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|
THE UNTOUCHABLES
As a DVD, THE UNTOUCHABLES won’t blow anyone’s socks off; however, the presentation of this late eighties film is very solid. Diehard fans will want to pick up the DVD without question; casual viewers may want to take a look before committing. |
This DVD review 
.
|
|
DVD
reviews are Copyright © 2001 THE CINEMA LASER and may not be copied
or reprinted without the written consent of the publisher. |
||
I’ve
never been a big fan of Kevin Costner, although there are a few of his
movies that I like, with THE UNTOUCHABLES ($30) being on that very
short list. Costner’s acting has never set the world or me on fire, however
his blandness actually works to this film’s advantage. As Eliot Ness,
Costner’s blandness conveys the right level of earnestness, which keeps
the character from seeming like a preachy do-gooder. THE UNTOUCHABLES
is set in Chicago during the era of prohibition, with treasury agent Eliot
Ness being assigned the unenviable task of stopping the crime wave being
caused by the city’s number one bootlegger- Al Capone (Robert De Niro).
Although he is working with the Chicago police department, Ness finds
himself facing a no win scenario. Prohibition is unpopular with the majority
of Chicago’s citizenry, plus both the police and the politicians are being
paid to look the other way by the bootleggers. Tired of being made to
look the fool, Ness hooks up with Jim Malone (Sean Connery), an honest
beat cop whose years of experience provide Ness with the key strategy
that will allow him to beat Capone at his own game. Director Brian De
Palma beautifully stages all of the film’s blazing gun battles, with his
homage to the "Odessa Steps" sequence from BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN
being a visual standout. In addition to Connery and DeNiro’s excellent
work, THE UNTOUCHABLES also features fine supporting performances
from Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Billy Drago and Patricia Clarkson.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has done a very nice job with their DVD release of
THE UNTOUCHABLES. While the presentation does feature the 16:9
enhancement, I have to say that the transfer doesn’t have that hyper-realistic
snap that one finds in new movies. The 2.35:1 image has a slightly diffuse
appearance, which I would imagine is the result of filters being applied
to the film’s original cinematography. Still, THE UNTOUCHABLES
looks better on DVD than it ever did on Laserdisc, even if the picture
doesn’t leap off the screen. Colors are fairly strong, with the warmer
hues predominating and the flesh tones appearing quite natural. There
are no signs of chromatic distortion, nor is there any smearing of the
more intense hues. Blacks are accurately reproduced and the level of shadow
detail is quite respectable. The film element used for the transfer displays
very few blemishes and there was little evidence of grain during the presentation.
Digital compression artifacts rarely make their presence known on this
dual layer DVD.
The
Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack applied to THE UNTOUCHABLES
is very good, but not outstanding. This Dolby Digital track would appear
to be a straightforward translation of the 1987 Dolby Surround stems,
instead of a complete remix of the original sound elements. The mix seems
a little dated, since the surround channels do not take advantage of the
discrete encoding. Most of the directional activity is relegated to the
forward soundstage, with the front stereo image being used rather effectively.
Additionally, the dialogue is always clean and fully intelligible. There
is a decent bottom end to the track, which reinforces the gunfire and
explosions. I am particularly fond of Ennio Morricone’s score for THE
UNTOUCHABLES, which sounds pretty good in this mix. English and French
Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English
subtitles. The basic interactive menus provide access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as a theatrical trailer.
